Marvel Comics

Captain America is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941), from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics,The 1995 Marvel Milestone Edition: Captain America archival reprint has no cover date or number, and its postal indicia says "Originally published ... as Captain America #000". Timely's first comic Marvel Comics #1, likewise had no number on its cover, and was released with two different cover dates. and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby. Over the years, an estimated 210 million copies of "Captain America" comic books have been sold in a total of 75 countries.Death to ?America': Comic-book hero killed off, msnbc.com, March 7, 2007 For nearly all of the character's publication history Captain America was the alter ego of Steve Rogers, a sickly young man who was enhanced to the peak of human perfection by an experimental serum in order to aid the United States war effort. Captain America wears a costume that bears an American flag motif, and is armed with an indestructible shield that can be thrown as a weapon."Bullpen Bulletins: "Stan's Soapbox", December 1999

An intentionally patriotic creation who was often depicted fighting the Axis powers of World War II, Captain America was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. After the war ended, the character's popularity waned and he disappeared by the 1950s aside from an ill-fated revival in 1953. Captain America was reintroduced during the Silver Age of comics when he was revived from suspended animation by the superhero team the Avengers in The Avengers #4 (March 1964). Since then, Captain America has often led the team, as well as starring in his own series. Steve Rogers was apparently killed in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007), although he was later revealed to be alive; in any case, the Captain America series continues publication with Rogers' former sidekick, James "Bucky" Barnes, having taken up the mantle.

Marvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc.SECInfo.com: "Marvel Entertainment/Inc. 10-K for 12/31/07", filed February 28, 2008

Marvel counts among its characters such well-known properties as Spider-Man, Wolverine, Iron Man, The X-Men, Captain America, The Fantastic Four, The Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, The Punisher, Ghost Rider, Deadpool, Black Panther, Blade, The Silver Surfer, Nick Fury, Moon Knight, and others. Most of Marvel's fictional characters operate in a single reality known as the Marvel Universe, with locales set in real-life cities such as New York.

Ultimate Marvel Universe Retrieved October 18, 2008

The comic-book arm of the company started in 1939 as Timely Publications, and by the 1950s had generally become known as Atlas Comics. Marvel's modern incarnation dates from 1961, with the launching of Fantastic Four and other superhero titles created by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and others. Marvel has since become the largest American comic-book publisher, surpassing its longtime competitor DC Comics.Marvel Comics official site Retrieved October 18, 2008

On August 31, 2009, The Walt Disney Company announced a deal to acquire Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion in cash and stock. The voting for the deal is scheduled to occur on December 31, 2009.Marvel Sets Date for Disney Vote, Los Angeles Business Journal, December 3, 2009

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber; December 28, 1922)Lee, Stan, and Mair, George. Excelsior!: The Amazing Life of Stan Lee (Fireside, 2002), p.5. ISBN 0-684-87305-2 is an American comic book writer, editor, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Thor, Daredevil, Doctor Strange, and many other fictional characters, introducing complex, naturalistic charactersWright, Bradford W. Comic Book Nation: The Transformation of Youth Culture in America (The Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003), ISBN 0801874505, ISBN 978-0801874505, p. 207

and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books.Wright, p. 218 In addition, he headed the first major successful challenge to the industry's censorship organization, the Comics Code Authority and forced it to reform its policies.Wright, p. 239 Lee subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

A comic book (often shortened to simply comic and sometimes called a funny book, comic paper or comic magazine) is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog (usually in word balloons, emblematic of the comic book artform) and often including brief descriptive prose. The first comic book appeared in the United States of America in 1934, reprinting the earlier newspaper comic strips, which established many of the story-telling devices used in comics. The term "comic book" arose because the first comic books reprinted humor comic strips, but despite their name, comic books do not necessarily operate in humorous mode; most modern comic books tell stories in a variety of genres. The Japanese and European comic book markets demonstrate this clearly. In the United States the super-hero genre dominates the market, even though other genres also exist.